Campaigns & Projects

Campaigns & Projects

Campaigns

24 April, World YWCA Day

World YWCA Day is celebrated annually on April 24 and is an opportunity for YWCAs around the world to commemorate the history of this special movement.

Since 1947, World YWCA Day has been celebrated annually with a theme and programme that enables members to act locally in relation to the theme for the year. Some of the early themes included: My Contribution to World Peace (1952), Towards One World (1955) , The World at Our Door (1956), Women Creating a Safe World (2009).

6 May, No Diet Day

International No Diet Day (INDD) is an annual celebration of body acceptance and body shape diversity. This day is also dedicated to promoting a healthy life style and raise awareness of the dangers and futility of dieting. International No Diet Day is observed on May 6, and its symbol is a blue ribbon, similar to the red ribbon of the World AIDS Day.

1 December, World AIDS Day

For the last 22 years, December 1 has marked World AIDS Day (WAD). Initially launched in 1988, WAD hopes to raise awareness on HIV, especially on human rights that are crucial to a successful AIDS response. The day is also important for remembering and honouring those who have died because of the lack of human rights and access to treatment care and support. The theme for this year’s WAD is “Universal Access and Human Rights,” which addresses the critical need to protect human rights and to attain universal access for all for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It also acts as a call for countries to remove punitive and other laws that discriminate against people living with HIV.

The latest research on women’s health indicates that lack of contraception and unsafe sex are the crucial risk factors for death and disability in women of reproductive age (15 – 49 years old). Unsafe sex can result in unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortions, reproductive complications and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among 15 – 19 years old young women living in developing countries (1). Globally, for women of reproductive age, AIDS related illnesses are the leading cause of death and disease. Women’s health, especially their sexual and reproductive health, is therefore an important issue for the wellbeing and development of future generations and the communities they live in.

Projects

Female Condoms and the International Paper Dolls Campaign

It is a campaign with a twist but YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand and Positive Women NZ have not let that stand in the way of their involvement in the International Paper Dolls Campaign that raises awareness of female condoms.

The campaign is funded by Universal Access to Female Condoms (UAFC ) to illustrate the growing, world-wide demand for female condoms by creating massive chains of paper dolls, each one with a personal message that reflects people’s thoughts on female condoms. The campaign highlights the urgency to those at the UN, governments and decision making positions that right now, less than 1% of all condoms distributed globally are female condoms.

The message has been going throughout New Zealand with regional workshops that are interactive, informative and inspiring. Through games, hands on training and exposure of the female condom, young and old alike are becoming educated. Young women, health promoters, women’s organisations, local politicians and media are all being exposed to female condoms.